Baseball – Texas State Vs Baylor

San Marcos, Tx.- The Texas State Bobcats entered Tuesday night’s game at 15-20 overall, and in order to get to 16-20 they would need to go through a tough Baylor Bear ball club.

Lane Lewis and myself were calling this game via stretch internet radio, and before the game we talked about the importance of jumping ahead early in front of a good team like Baylor and relying on strong pitching and sound defense to contain a very explosive lineup.

And that is exactly what happened.

The Bobcats came out swinging (well bunting technically) in their first opportunity of the game. After a Kevin Sah walked in the lead-off spot, Cody Lovejoy laid down a bunt perfectly positioned between Bear Pitcher Bobby McCormack and First Baseman Steve DalPorto to put runners at first and second. Garrett Mattlage executed a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third with only one out. That was all the momentum the Bobcats needed to get on the board first, as Andrew Stumph split the gap between short and third for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead. The Bears turned a double play on the next live ball to close the inning, but not before Texas State took that crucial early lead.

Baylor’s McCormack was yanked after two short innings due to his abysmal start in favor of reliever Landry Miles. The action would pick back up in the bottom of the third after Sah drew his second walk of the game to lead off the half inning. Lovejoy wasted no time in his second appearance at the plate taking the first pitch he saw to deep left field over the wall for a two run homer, and the 3-0 lead. The Bears would close out the inning shortly afterward before any further damage was done.

These are the kind of pitching performances that the Bobcats are capable of in every game, but it just hasn’t seem to come together before Tuesday’s game. It was truly a dominant performance over a Baylor club with some impressive wins on it’s resume, including victories over five nationally ranked teams.

This win could be a big momentum swing for this young team, and it could be the W that changed things for the better when we look back at the end of the season.

Texas State finds itself at 8-4 in WAC play, and one game behind CSU and UTA for the top conference spot. The team will travel to San Jose to take on the 5-7 Spartans in a three-game weekend series.